Tournament upstarts Kapiti-Horowhenua faced the old order of Canterbury in this clash between two of the best performing mixed open sides of the weekend.
The sun had just come out following some suspect weather from the past day and this allowed for many touchdowns and attacking play. Kato Wharepapa scored the opening touchdown following a cut which the K-H defence didn't read well. Tiakina Manga levelled for K-H minutes later as he looked to drag for a team mate then simply was allowed to keep running to the line. Richie Mo'unga put Canterbury back ahead, but K-H then reeled off two consecutive touchdowns to take the lead again at 3-2.
Canterbury then reached a purple patch in their performance as they scored three in a row, Mo'unga impressive in the middle of the park feeding his wingers with accurate long balls. Tanira Cooper scored from an intelligent inside ball to pull the score back to 5-4 at half time.
Canterbury had a couple of chances to extend their advantage but dropped ball in the attacking zone too many times to waste golden opportunities. They did make another breakthrough awhile later though, with Amy McKay benefiting from some skilful inside play to score out wide.
K-H looked to be going off the boil but they regrouped and matched Canterbury's three try blitz with one of their own. Michael Tambour was industrious in his chance making and contributed heavily at this point of the match.
From this point onwards, the sides traded touchdowns back and forth until K-H looked to have won it by going two touchdowns ahead through Manga. Canterbury showed heart to score two clutch touchdowns with barely any time remaining. As the match lurched towards a draw, K-H had one last big play left in them and Elaine August scored to put her side ahead 10-9. There were tense moments in the final set as Canterbury looked for a final reprieve but they ran out of time and ideas as K-H took a deserved victory.
Final score: 10-9 Kapiti-Horowhenua.
Last Modified on 02/03/2012 13:25